Garment hanger



Sept. 30, 1947. PlERCE 2,428,240

GARMENT HANGER Filed Aug; 9, '19'44 INVENTOR.

302e Fierce.

. 25E- BY 3. v v i Patented Sept. 30, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEGARMENT HAN GER Robert Pierce, Detroit, Mich. Appiication August 9,1944, Serial No. 548,680 8 Claims. (01. 223-91) This invention relatesto garment hangers, an important object of the invention being toprovide a hanger of improved construction for hanging or supporting avariety of articles of womens as well as mens apparel, thereby renderingthe hanger capable of wider usage than conventional hangers andsusceptible of convenient adaptation to most garments of the wardrobe.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger havinga frame, such as of suitable form shape, and a horizontal crossbar forsupporting trousers, skirts, and other articles of apparel and in whichimproved means is provided for supporting the crossbar on the frame andalso for gripping or holding the garment firmly in position when drapedover or suspended from the bar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger havingmeans in the form of a tubular socket member insertable into a hole oraperture in the hanger frame for supporting each end of a crossbar orrod, the socket member providing means for gripping the garment againstthe crossbar and also preferably being constructed to support adepending garment hook positioned to underlie the crossbar, thusenabling the hanger to be used for supporting a variety' of articles ofthe wardrobe.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, illustrating a garmenthanger embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken substantially through lines 22 ofFig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of thehanger.

Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially through lines 4-4 of Fig. 3looking in the directionof the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 3 illustrating a somewhat modifiedconstruction.

Fig. 6 is a section taken substantially through lines 66 of Fig. 5looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. '7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but illustrating a furthermodification of the construction.

Beforeexplaining in detail the present invention it is to be understoodthat the invention is not limited in its application to the details 0fconstruction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and ofbeing practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to beunderstood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is forthe purpose of description and not of limitation.

In the drawings I have illustrated, by way of example, certain preferredembodiments of the present invention as applied to a garment hangerhaving a supporting frame of the wishbone type. The frame of the hangercomprises two diverging frame members if! and H, which may be formed ofWood, plastic material, or any other suitable material, and which whenassembled are secured together as by means of corrugated fasteners orstaples i2. Extending from the apex of the frame members at theirjuncture is a suitable wire hook l3. The lower or outer ends of theframe members ID and H are connected together by means of a crossbar orrod I4 formed of wood or other suitable material and over whichgarments, such as trousers, may be draped.

The ends of the crossbar or rod Id are supported within sheet metaltubular socket members l5 which, together with the terminal ends of thecrossbar, project into holes or apertures extending horizontally intothe ends of the frame members at the inner sides thereof. Each socketmember is formed from a sheet metal blank rolled or coiled, asillustrated in Fig. 2, to receive snugly the end of the crossbar. At theupper side of the tubular socket l5 a portion of the metal is lanced outto provide a projecting claw or barb l5 of fishhook type. Before theframe members Hi and II are assembled together the ends of the bar 14are inserted into the socket members I5 and thereafter the socketmembers are forced into the holes in the frame members so as to embedthe claws or barbs It in the Wood material thereof, as a result of whichthe socket members are firmly anchored in position against Withdrawal.After the bar M and two socket members have been installed the upperends of the frame members ill and H are secured together by the devicesl2.

Each of the bar supporting socket members to is preferably formed withan integral horizontally extending spring gripping bar i'l. These 'barsextend along one side of the crossbar id and are bowed outwardlytherefrom centrally as shown in Fig. 3. Near the end of each grippingbar I? the metal is formed on a radius transversely to provide a curvedportion i'la conforming to the curvature of the crossbar l4 and engagingthe same to provide a garment gripping portion. Beyond this portion themetal of the spring bar I? is bent or flared outwardly at llb to providesuificient clearance for insertion of the garment beneath the grippingbar or to permit the end to be grasped by the fingers to spring the baroutwardly so as to facilitate insertion of a garment between the springbar I! and the crossbar l4 when the garment is draped over the latter.It will be seen. from Fig. 1 that the gripping bars 1? terminate shortof the center of the crossbar 14, thus spacing them apart for convenientuse. The bars ll are preferably formed of spring steel and theirgripping engagement with the garment draped over the crossbar isenhanced by virtue of the curved gripping pertions I la which provideincreased. contacting sur-- faces for gripping engagement of thegarment.

The socket members l5 are also preferably formed with depending hookmembers by means of: which various articles of apparel may be hung thehanger. Eachof these depending garment hooks is formed by means of 2.depending extension l8 formed integrally with the socket portion I5 andextending downwardly from one edge thereof. The part I 8 terminates inan inwardly generally horizontal arm extension 89 which preferably liesdirectly beneath the crossbar It. The arm extension i9 is preferablybowed or downwardly curved intermediate the depending portion l8 and theterminal end lilo of the hook. .As' a result of this construction, asclearly illustrated in Fig. 3, the. garment hook which forms an integralpart of thesocket member 15 has an elongated horizontally extending armI?! on which a number of garments may be hung. Moreover, the length ofthis arm is preferably sufficient to permit articles, such as stockings,to be draped thereover.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs; 5 and 6 is the sameas that heretofore described excepting as to the construction of thegarment hook and pants gripping bars. In this instance the hook isformed in two parts comprising a depending member 29 extendingintegrally from the socket member l5. To the lower end of this member issecured a generally horizontally extending arm 21 which replaces the arm89 of the garment hook in the previous embodiment. The arm 2 I in thisembodiment may be formed of heavy gaugewire, the outer end of whichprojects through a hole in the extension '28 and is bent back'uponitself at 22 into tight clamping engagement with the extension. Toprevent turning of the arm H in the holethe extension 20 is providedwith a groove or recess 23 to receive the outer end of the arm. The armis preferably bowed downwardly at Ma and terminates in a coiled orreturn bent end forming a closed eye 21b; The gripping bars H in thisembodiment are ofiset somewhat at il c to space an intermediate portion1 Id of the bar slightly from the bar 14; Thence each gripping bar isbent back to provide an elongated transversely curved section We fittingthe contour of the bar It. and terminating in a flared finger grippingportion Hf. Trousers may be suspended from the bar M by inserting thecuffs beneath the portions Ile which will grip the cufis by the strongspring action exerted by the bars ll.

In the embodiment of Fig. "I the arm member 2|, formed of heavy gaugewire or the like, is secured in somewhat diiierent manner to thedepending extension 24 of the socket member l5. In this instance themetal at the lower end of the extension 24 is coiled to provide atubular socket 25 into which the arm or rod 21 extends. The parts aresecured together by means of peened indentations 2%.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a garment hangercapable of serving many purposes in supporting a variety of articles ofapparel. The tubular socket members 65, which embrace the ends of thecrossbar it and are anchored within apertures in the frame, may bemanufactured economically from sheet metal by simple stamping andforming operations providing, in addition to anchoring or supportingmeans for the crossbar, pants gripping members I! for holding thegarment by spring gripping action in properly sup-ported positionagainst the bar and underlying hook members which themselves serve atwofold purpose, namely, permitting articles to be hung therefrom anddraped thereover. The improved construction, therefore, lends to thegarment hanger the widest possible usefulness while at the same timeprovidin a device of great simplicity.

Iclaim:

1. A garment hanger comprising a supporting frame, a transverse garmentsupporting bar, a tubular socket member receiving each end of said barand anchored within an aperture in said frame, a garment gripping memberprojecting from said socket member alongside of said bar, and adepending garment hook projecting from said socket member.

2. A garment hanger comprising a generally wishbone type supportingframe having diverging sides, a transverse bar extending between theends of said sides and projecting into apertures therein, and a pressedmetal member provided with a, tubular socket portion embracing the endof the bar and having an integrally projecting garment gripping barextending inwardly along the length of said bar and cooperable therewithto grip a garment supported on the bar- 3. A garment hanger comprising agenerally wishbone type supporting frame having diverging sides, atransverse bar extending between the ends of said sides and projectinginto apertures therein, and a pressed metal member provided with atubular socket portion embracing the end of the bar and having anintegrally projecting garment gripping bar extending inwardly along thelength of said bar and cooperable therewith to grip a garment, saidmember also having a garment hook underlying said bar including adepending portion formed as an integral part of said socket portion.

4. A garment hanger comprising a supporting frame having divergingsides, a transverse bar extending between the spaced terminal ends ofsaid frame, a tubular socket member receiving each end of said bar andanchored in an aperture in one of said terminal ends, a garment grippingbar projecting from said socket member and extending along the side ofsaid bar for cooperation therewith to grip a garment against the bar,and a depending garment hook projecting from said socket member.

5. A garment hanger comprising a supporting frame having divergingsides, a transverse bar extending between the spaced terminal ends ofsaid frame, a tubular socket member receiving each end of said bar andanchored in an aperture in one of said terminal ends, a spring grippingbar projecting from said socket member and extending along the side ofsaid transverse bar for cooperation therewith to grip a garment, and adepending garment hook projecting from said socket member and having agenerally horizontal arm extending beneath said bars.

6. A garment hanger including a supporting frame, a transverse garmentsupporting bar having its ends projecting into apertures in the frame,and a member embracing the end of the bar and provided with a dependinghook and a horizontally extending bar cooperable with said transversebar to grip a garment thereon.

7. A garment hanger including a supporting frame, a transverse garmentsupporting bar having its ends projecting into apertures in the frame, amember having a tubular portion embracing an end of the bar andextending partly within the frame aperture and partly exteriorlythereof, and a garment gripping bar projecting from the exterior part ofsaid tubular portion, said gripping bar adjacent its outer end having atransversely curved gripping portion engageable with and conformingsubstantially to the curvature of said transverse bar.

8. In a garment hanger, a transverse garment supporting bar, a pair ofmembers secured to opposite ends of the bar and having dependingportions, wire hook members each having an end looped through a hole inone of said portions and cooperable with such portion to maintain thehook member firmly in position against turning.

ROBERT PIERCE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

